travelogged

When I go on a trip, I like to bring home souvenirs for my family (and, yes, for myself too). I usually like to purchase them at the end so I don't have to bother carrying around and so that I feel like I've seen everything before I commit. Sometimes this works out, and sometimes it doesn't. In Scotland, I almost had to return home empty-handed, but luckily the shops at Gretna Green, a little historic spot just a few miles from the border, saved me. I began my Scotland trip in Edinburgh... Read Full Story

Where I have met the most fellow travelers? Turkey? England? Alaska? Greece? Nope. I tend to travel with my husband or in a group with other writers/bloggers, which makes it harder to meet people, although I always try because it’s an important part of traveling. I’ve actually met the most travelers right at home, sitting in front of my computer and logging onto Twitter . Yes, I'm following nearly 5,000 travel enthusiasts, a mix of travel bloggers, writers, PR professionals, hotels, marketers... Read Full Story

Babymoon is a funny word. While a honeymoon is something that you take after the wedding with your honey, a babymoon is something that you take before the baby with your honey. It's also just a fancy name for a trip taken during your second trimester, which the best time for pregnant women to travel because any first trimester morning sickness should be over but you don't yet have the physical discomfort of the third trimester. When I was 25/26 weeks pregnant, I went to England and Scotland... Read Full Story

If you had asked me where the world's largest swimming pool is, I'd have guessed Dubai or Las Vegas. And I'd have been wrong. The world's largest swimming pool is in Algarrobo, Chile, at the San Alfonso del Mar resort, which opened in December 2006. In the photo above, you can see just a portion of this 19-acre pool, which almost could be mistaken for the Caribbean Sea. My father-in-law, Mike Wright, spent a weekend at San Alfonso del Mar last month, and shared these photos with Travelogged... Read Full Story

When I found out that my Alaska Princess Cruise would end in Vancouver , I was really excited because I had always wanted to visit the city — especially after watching the 2010 Winter Olympics on TV. I decided that I would spend the weekend there with my friend Rebecca , who was going on the cruise with me. Not knowing much about Vancouver, I had trouble deciding where in the city would be the best location to book a hotel. I ended up in the West End, where I had a very enjoyable stay as a... Read Full Story

(This lovely NYC brownstone pictured above is not, to my knowledge, haunted. But you never know.) Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. The decorations, costumes and candy — I love it all. Especially the haunted houses, which are more about kitsch and special effects than actual ghosts. Whenever I've been in Great Britain, I've been very impressed how each place claims to be more haunted than the next. We don't seem to have ghosts here in the US. Or maybe we do have as many, but... Read Full Story

(photo by A Lady in London ) When I wrote about which restaurants to dine at along the route of the NYC Marathon , I intended the guide to be for spectators not participants. But after hearing about the Medoc Marathon (pictured above) in southwestern France, I may have to rethink this. Julie, who writes the entertaining travel blog, A Lady in London , ran the Medoc Marathon in a Little Red Riding Hood costume last month and finished all 26.2 miles despite a few wine-tasting stops (including... Read Full Story

Confession: I was 14 and 15 weeks pregnant when I took my Alaska Princess cruise in June. Even though my doctor said it was a totally safe endeavor, I still worried about whether it was a good idea to take a cruise while expecting. Well, I had a fantastic time and I'm now convinced that a cruise is a great vacation for pregnant women — as long as they're not experiencing morning sickness or they're too far along, as most cruiselines (including Princess) don't allow you to sail past 24 weeks... Read Full Story

Everywhere I go, I take hundreds of photos, a small fraction of which end up on Travelogged. In the days of film, I’d be featured on Hoarders because my apartment would be drowning in prints and I’d be suffocating by negatives. But in this digital age, it’s just the opposite. Hardly any of my photos ever make it off the hard drive and onto paper. But when I snapped that photo above, I knew it was a keeper. So I turned to Bumblejax.com to have my JPEG transformed into a 15-in X 20-in. print... Read Full Story

Friendly banter among travel enthusiasts can quickly become competitive. The conversation may start with "where were you last?" progress to "where else have you been?" and then escalate to "how many country have you visited?" Well, here's some good news for country counters — you know the types who collect passport stamps for bragging rights. There are two new countries on the scene: Curacao (pictured above) and St. Maarten. Perhaps you're thinking that you've heard of Curacao and St... Read Full Story